Sure, we as college football fans can choose to ignore a lot of things, but it’s hard to overlook the fact that the Auburn Tigers’ 22-19 victory over the Oregon Ducks marks the 5th straight BCS Championship for a team from the Southeastern Conference; a conference that now possesses 7 of the 13 Crystal Eggs awarded since the Bowl Championship Series’ inception back in 1998.

Here’s the breakdown:

1998: Tennessee (Beat Florida State 23-16)

2003: LSU (Beat Oklahoma 21-14)

2006: Florida (Beat Ohio State 41-14)

2007: LSU (Beat Ohio State 38-24)

2008: Florida (Beat Oklahoma 24-14)

2009: Alabama (Beat Texas 37-21)

2010: Auburn (Beat Oregon 22-19)

Now, considering there are five other conferences that are supposed to have a realistic shot at winning this thing — and the next best showing by any of them is the Big 12’s two Crystal Eggs — isn’t the SEC’s dominance of this party teetering on the precipice of preposterousness?

I wish I could say the absurdity of it all ended there, by merely looking at the actual champions, but it doesn’t. In fact, some of the SEC’s “misses” — within the context of its hits and intra-conference dynamics — actually add fuel to the fire…

Given he was up against the SEC’s best pass rush, I’m not sure why Gus Malzahn’s offensive gameplan was so obviously geared toward letting Cam Newton toss the ball all over the field tonight. Then again, how could one argue with the results?

Up until tonight’s dismantling of SEC East representative South Carolina, I had severe reservations about Cam Newton’s ability to perform as a pure passer, particularly at the next level.

Call me crazy, but I think it’s time I put those worries to rest, and rather safely at that.

See, I typically drive a hard bargain, but, right or wrong, 17/28 for 335 yards and 4 TD’s — plus two additional TD’s on the ground — in the SEC Championship is enough to make me a believer. Call it the straw that broke this camel’s back, if nothing else, I suppose.

Auburn didn’t seem to need its phenomenal running game tonight — the mere threat of it was enough to open up countless opportunities for the War Eagle passing attack, and the five guys charged with protecting their reformed superstar’s backside chipped in with a fantastic performance.

Most importantly, however, Newton — who’s now all but certain to become Auburn University’s 3rd Heisman Trophy winner (see Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson) — almost invariably made the most of it. Spurrier’s Gamecocks never even had a fighting chance.

So yeah: Newton proved he’s worth his weight in gold tonight — at least the $180,000 Mississippi State was asked to pay for his services.

The fact that Auburn apparently got Cam for free — well, let’s just say Starkville must be feeling pretty dang jilted right about now. Gainesville, too…